For the second ECM album by Aaron Parks – following the solo release Aborescence, which JazzTimes praised as “expansive, impressionistic… like a vision quest” – the prize-winning pianist has convened a trio featuring bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart. The rhythm pair, which also teams in Hart’s hit quartet for ECM, blends fluidity and strength – what Parks calls “an oceanic” quality, producing waves of energy for the pianist to alternately ride and dive into. Find the Way has the aura of a piano-trio recording in the classic mold, from melody-rich opener “Adrift” to the closing title track, a cover of a romantic tune Parks grew to love on an LP by Rosemary Clooney and Nelson Riddle. Parks also drew inspiration for this album from the likes of Alice Coltrane and Shirley Horn (for whom Hart played); space and subtlety are a priority.

For his second ECM album, award-winning pianist Aaron Parks assembled a trio featuring bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart. The rhythm pair, which also teams in Hart’s hit quartet for ECM, blends fluidity and strength, what Parks calls "an oceanic" quality, producing waves of energy for the pianist to alternately ride and dive into. Find The Way has the aura of a classic piano trio recording, from the melodic opener Adrift to the closing title track, a cover of a romantic tune Parks grew to love on an LP by Rosemary Clooney and Nelson Riddle. Placing a priority on space and subtlety, Parks also drew inspiration from the likes of Alice Coltrane and Shirley Horn, for whom Hart played.

For the second ECM album by Aaron Parks – following the solo release Arborescence, which JazzTimes praised as "expansive, impressionistic… like a vision quest" – the prize-winning pianist has convened a trio featuring bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart. The rhythm pair, which also teams in Hart's hit quartet for ECM, blends fluidity and strength – what Parks calls "an oceanic" quality, producing waves of energy for the pianist to alternately ride and dive into.

“Arborescence” is the word for the way something grows, seeking and adaptive, like a tree – its roots and branches moving under and around things wherever they need to go toward water, toward the sun. Prize-winning young pianist Aaron Parks titled his ECM debut “Arborescence” because the album’s music is the fruit of a session of solo studio improvisation in which little was predetermined; the pieces developed in the moment like “living things,” in the artist’s words.

"Arborescence" is the word for the way something grows, seeking and adaptive, like a tree - its roots and branches moving under and around things wherever they need to go toward water, toward the sun. Prize-winning young American pianist Aaron Parks titled his ECM debut Arborescence because the album's music is the fruit of a session of solo studio improvisation in which little was predetermined; the pieces developed in the moment like "living things", in the artist's words. “The music felt as if it were coming into being and going where it had to go, in that sort of arboreal way”. It's possible to hear fleeting echoes in this music of Arvo Part and Paul Bley, Erik Satie and Kenny Wheeler; but Arborescence is ultimately something deeply individual and intimate, recorded with the lights down low in the warm, clear acoustics of Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts.

“Arborescence” is the word for the way something grows, seeking and adaptive, like a tree – its roots and branches moving under and around things wherever they need to go toward water, toward the sun. Prize-winning young pianist Aaron Parks titled his ECM debut “Arborescence” because the album’s music is the fruit of a session of solo studio improvisation in which little was predetermined; the pieces developed in the moment like “living things,” in the artist’s words.

"Arborescence" is the word for the way something grows, seeking and adaptive, like a tree - its roots and branches moving under and around things wherever they need to go toward water, toward the sun. Prize-winning young American pianist Aaron Parks titled his ECM debut Arborescence because the album's music is the fruit of a session of solo studio improvisation in which little was predetermined; the pieces developed in the moment like "living things," in the artist's words.

South Korean singer Yeahwon Shin's ECM debut, Lua ya is a gentle album of songs and lullabies, recorded in 2012 in the spacious acoustics of Mechanics Hall, near Boston. It's a very intuitive set, shaped as Yeahwon says by "improvising, listening to our childhood memories and letting the music flow".

The reference to some exquisitely dressed man in the title of this release also conveys the stylistic bent of pianist Aaron Diehl's noteworthy debut on Mack Avenue. He is among a list of rising jazz pianists which include Gerald Clayton and Aaron Parks. The recording brings to life a project that was conceived in Indianapolis after Diehl, 26, earned first place in American Pianists Association's 2011 Cole Porter Fellowship.